The Courier

Dear Parents and Friends of the School

After Christmas art day last Friday, we have got fully into the Christmas spirit this week. We all enjoyed the Reception and Year 1 Nativity performance on Wednesday, as well as the Year 2 Christmas Cracker rehearsal the day before. We can add to this rich festive mix the Christmas Open Corridors, the Reception theatre trip and, to finish it all off, today’s Christmas Bazaar.

It has certainly been a busy one with lots of opportunities for parents to come along and join with the School in celebrating the season with the children. One other event that deserves a special mention is the LAMDA showcase on Monday where the children in Year 3 and 4 performed their poetry monologues to their parents. The sheer quality and confidence on show that evening was a great credit to the children as well as Ms Bowdige, our excellent drama teacher. We have more of these to come next term for the Year 5 and 6 children, as well as the exams themselves, where I suspect our children will do very well indeed. The assessor won’t know what’s hit him.

One of the many advantages of our specialist teaching team here at school is that preparation for events like these don't have to always impact on the learning in the core curriculum subjects as songs and routines can be learned in drama and music lessons. We are always looking to strike the right balance between the desire to put on quality performances with the crucial importance of the learning that goes on in the classrooms.

Next week we are on a similar theme, with the Carol Service to look forward to on Thursday, as well as performances and theatre trips. This will be our last full week in school before we wind down for the festive season and I hope to see you at least one of these occasions before that time comes.

My son James is returning this week from his first tour of duty as a Royal Navy officer and he’ll be coming back into Portsmouth Harbour sometime in the middle of the week. We are very much forward to looking forward to seeing him again and hearing about his traveller’s tales.

Whatever you have planned for the weekend, I hope it goes well and I suspect it will involve some Christmas shopping. Mine is going okay but there’s still quite a bit to do…

Joe Thackway
Headmaster

Please note the following changes to Swimming this week:

Monday

• Both 2E and 2W will swim on Monday

Tuesday

• 1Q will swim with 3LS on Tuesday

Wednesday

• 3SS and 4C as normal

Thursday

Only those not involved in the Carol Service rehearsal will swim - parents have been notified.

Please ensure children have swimming bags in school on the correct day.  It's SPLASH week so children won't want to miss it.

Below is a link to view the Michaelmas Term Calendar.  

A couple of weeks ago, the children in Years 2 to 6 took part in the fantastic Bebras Computing Challenge, a global competition with thousands of children taking part from over 50 different countries. The challenge gives learners a taste of the key principles behind computational thinking and logic by engaging them in fun problem-solving activities and puzzles. This week we received the results back, and I am delighted to share with you just how well our pupils did! Over 75% of our pupils scored above the national average (and international!) score, more than ever of them finishing in the top 10%, a superb achievement I’m sure you will agree. Two pupils in Year 5 even scored full marks, making them not only 'best in school' but also joint 1st place in the entire country! Once again Crescent pupils proving that we are a little school with some very big ambitions.

Everyone who competed will receive a certificate, some a Merit or Distinction (top 10%).

Huge congratulations to everyone who took part, particularly to our top performers in each category:

Kits (Yr 2 & 3) - just under 10,000 competitiors

• 1st place – Walter, Zoe, Penelope, Catherine (joint 211th out of over 10,000 in the country!)
• 5th place - Eve S (267 nationally - top 2%)
• 6th - Alice, Uma (313 nationally - top 3%)

Distinctions (top 10%) - Ria, Oliver, Elin, Elliott, Max G-H, Zachary, Evie M, Hazel, Florence, Nishaan, Keevie, Jonny, Marcie

Castors (Yr 4 & 5) – over 20,000 competitors

• 1st place - Alex W, Sam Y (joint 1st in the whole country!)
• 3rd place - Aryaan, Matthew, Ella, Patrick (761 nationally - top 3%)

Distinctions (top 10%) - Kian, Zac, Aria, Amber, Harry, Taran, Nora, Ming-Yi

Juniors (Yr 6 & 7) – over 117,000 competitors

• 1st place - Alex T (top 5%)
• 2nd place - Hattie (top 6%)
• 3rd place - Shayla (top 8%)

Distinctions (top 10%) - Remi, Alice, Grace

Huge congratulations to Thomas B, Zac J and Sophie G who swam superbly at the National ISA Swimming Finals at the London Aquatics Centre on Friday 1 December.

Year 4, Thomas went all out and came home with a Gold medal after helping his team finish in first place in the 4x50m Freestyle Relay. Year 5, Zac did nearly as well with his team finishing in second place for a Silver medal in the 4x50m Freestyle Relay. Zac also finished 4th in the individual 50m Backstroke. Then Year 5 Sophie gave her best to finish in 5th place in the 4x50m Freestyle Relay and 6th in the individual 50m Freestyle.

Together the swimmers’ super performances helped the Midlands team finish in third place overall at the national event.

Head of PE and Games, Rachel McCollin, was delighted and said, "Our swimmers have traditionally done well in the ISA Swimming Championships, and they have had another successful outing this year. Well done to everyone who competed in both the Nationals and in the qualifying regional competitions."

On Monday 4 December pupils from Years 3 and 4 took to the stage to show off their fabulous performance skills. The pupils have been preparing for their upcoming LAMDA exams and the LAMDA Showcase was a super opportunity for the children to execute their much practised and perfected poems.

In their Drama lessons, pupils have been building confidence, developing character, learning how to project and developing the use of gestures, emphasis and emotion to enhance their performances. They all relished performing to an audience, rising to the occasion with aplomb and the watching parents were all impressed by the children's ability and confidence.

Drama teacher, Ms Bowdige was extremely proud of everyone who took part and would like to thank all the children, staff and parents for their hard work and dedication.

Well done to everyone and good luck in your LAMDA exams!

Crescent School was delighted to welcome Major Catherine Rand from the Salvation Army into school this morning to collect toys and gift donations for the Salvation Army’s Christmas Present Appeal.

Major Catherine spoke to the children in assembly, thanking them and their parents for the donations and explaining about the work of the Salvation Army and of their annual present appeal. She also treated the children to a fabulous rendition of Jingle Bells on her Flugelhorn and everyone joined in happily singing along.

Many thanks to our wonderful Friends of Crescent for coordinating the collection, and to all of our Crescent parents, pupils and staff for their donations to the appeal. The gifts were laid out in assembly for all the children to see.

Well done everyone, a great example of being a Good Citizen. The Christmas spirit is alive and well in our Crescent community!

This year’s Nativity took place on Wednesday 6 December and starred Reception and Year 1 who together performed The Twinkly Nativity.

The simple musical told the traditional nativity story of the journey to Bethlehem, the search for a room at the inn, the birth of baby Jesus and the visits of the shepherds and wise men. The two classes transformed into the nativity cast with a multitude of angels, shepherds, kings and innkeepers who together with Mary, Joseph and the donkey and animals created a marvellous spectacle.

The simple story was told beautifully with each child carefully enunciating their individual lines. Together our most junior children sang delightfully crowd-pleasing tunes such as We’re Hitting The Road, Twinkle Twinkle Follow the Star and Come As Your Are.

Head of Pre Prep, Alan Webb, commented, "It went very, very well. We are so proud of all our children, they performed brilliantly.”

It was a wonderful start to the exciting final few weeks of term.

The Green Team and I were delighted to hear that Parker in Reception took the bus rather than the car home from school as part of the Cut Your Carbon challenge. 

Then Green Team member, Catherine in 3SS, and her family, travelled by train when they went to visit their cousins. 

They were both great examples of how to Cut Your Carbon. Well done to Parker and Catherine.

We held our annual House Christmas Trees competition this week. The theme this year was a sustainable Christmas, and the House teams exceeded all our expectations with their creativity.

St David’s decorated the tree in reception, and it was a sight to behold with golden tinsel, hand cut stars and surrounded by yellow ‘present’ books. St Andrew’s tree was in the link to the Horton Centre and it was covered in beautiful individually hand-tied decorations. St George’s had the tree down in the Mortimer Suite and they surpassed themselves decorating their tree with rosettes of red hand prints topped with the Red House mascot. All of the trees were stunning.

On Wednesday, Mr Thackway visited the three trees and was very impressed. He announced the winners in assembly today. Many congratulations to Red House, they took the title for the second year on the trot. To be honest though – we think they are all smashing. Well done everyone, the countdown to Christmas has begun!

In assembly today, Isabella and Lottie told us all about the Sinterklaas celebrations that are happening in Belgium and Netherlands. It was fascinating to hear all about them and we hope you both had a lovely celebration.

All are welcome to the Princethorpe College PTA Christmas Fair which takes place on Sunday 10 December 2023 - a fun, festive event for all ages including:

• Christmas shopping market – choose from a range of artisan crafts, jewellery and gift
• Christmas craft room – make a Christmas table decoration
• Refreshments – mince pies and mulled wine, hot drinks and cake
• Bottle and chocolate tombolas
• Princethorpe student stalls
• Pre-loved school uniform stall
• Many other fun stalls 

Please note the Princethorpe PTA can now take card payments on their refreshments and pre-loved uniform stalls.

You can also participate in the Christmas Raffle which has some fantastic prizes: £250 cash, £150 cash, Fortnum and Mason Hamper - plus many more.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Tuesday 12 December - 9.10am

Parents of the children in Year 2 are invited to share in a performance of poetry, music and readings to celebrate the Christmas festivities.

You are welcome to come into school for light refreshments from 8.45am and the performance will start at 9.10am.  

Mr Webb, Mrs Emery, Mrs Barnes and Miss Bowdige

Thursday 14 December 2023 - 6.15pm to 7.45pm

This year we will again hold our Christmas Carol Service at Princethorpe College in Our Lady of the Angels Chapel. Please join us for a wonderful evening of carols, readings and re-telling of the Christmas story.

Parents should bring their children to the Chapel to be seated by 6.15pm. Princethorpe have asked if families can refrain from arriving until after 6.00pm to allow their school day to finish safely. Winter uniform with blazers, jumpers/cardigan and grey tights for girls should be worn.

Please ensure you adhere to the ticket allocation as we are bound by fire regulations.

Any queries do contact me.

Wednesday 20 December 2023

Our Christmas Jumper Day this year will be on Wednesday 20 December 2023. On that day, children should wear normal school uniform, but instead of their green pullover/cardigan, they can wear a Christmas jumper, if they wish.

We invite you to make a voluntary contribution of a minimum £1 to wear a festive jumper, which is in aid of Children's Air Ambulance.

Ms Clark

Friday 23 February 2024 – 6.30pm to 10.00pm

Our popular Farmers' Networking Supper is returning to Princethorpe College next year on Friday 23 February 2024.

Offering past and present Foundation families who work in or are connected to the farming and agribusiness sector the chance to meet up, foster new connections, exchange ideas and build relationships.

Further details will be shared shortly but do please put the date in your diary.

For further information please contact stevekowal@princethorpe.co.uk.

This week has been busy for Junior da Vinci awards.

• Zac in 5F has managed to earn two full student awards, one in English and another in History
• Nora and Maya in 5F also become full students in History, as does Mithun in 4C
• Charlie in 3SS earnt his in Maths
• Sarima in 2E has earned her badge in English
• Barnaby in 5F has earnt his in Art

Well done to you all!

Mrs Symons
JdV Lead

This week's Artists of the week are:

• Maggie 6W - Creative use of line and colour to show movement  
• Remi 6W - Excellent use of the mannequin to show the illusion of movement
• Emily 6W - A fun and imaginative piece of work showing the illusion of movement
• Orlaith 3LS - Excellent two-coloured block print pattern
• Sophia 3LS - Carefully named block print pattern
• Kiki 3LS - A bright and bold printed pattern
• Jack 3SS - A clear and colourful block printed pattern
• Lily 3SS - Excellent use of colour for her block print pattern
• Penelope 3SS - Lovely mixed of colour for her block print

Mrs Thackway
Head of Art 

Pupils who have reached landmark % on automatic training mode in the Garage and Gigs and therefore are awarded JDVs for Maths Practice this week.

• Mithun 4C has completed 24% of the course
• Charlotte has completed 48%, 72% and finally 100% of the course

Results For Battle 30 Nov-7 Dec between: 4C, 3LS, 3LS, 2E, 2W are:- average score per class member.

• 1st 4C 491
• 2nd 3SS 61
• 3rd 3LS 18

Most valuable players in the whole competition:

• 1st Theo Mc 4C
• 2nd Kian 4C
• 3rd Isabella 4C

Well done, 4C! 🏆

Most improved speedsters in the studio are:

4C

• Lilah - Support Act!
• Thomas - Gigger!
• Seren - Gigger!

3SS

• Oliver- Headliner!

Battle between all 3LS, 5F and 6W 7-14 December 2023. 

TT Rock stars will block 2x, 5x, 10x and 11x on jamming if you are efficient at them, so you cannot pick easy ones just to score more points in the competition! 

Please note only the children should play on their account or it influences the level appropriate to them.

Stay Calm and Rock on!!

Reading certificates have, this week, been awarded to:

• Emily
• Florence
• Isla
• Lara
• Oore
• Ruby

Well done to you all.

This week in Maths, 3SS have been practising how to measure accurately with a ruler and then a tape measure as we investigated lengths of objects and lengths of our body parts! We then drew lines to given lengths and converted cm into mm in our workbooks.

This term Year 3 have been tackling political geography, meaning the names and borders created by governments. We started with the UK and have moved onto counties in England. This week we have focused on continents, especially capital cities in European countries. Some of the children played Memory to recall the correct pair, but with a map next to them. After a while they could remember the correct pairs without looking.

Maybe you can make a game at home to play too.

Year 4 have written Haiku inspired by the Japanese animation Howl’s Moving Castle. We watched the castle move and listened to its sounds before gathering interesting adjectives and verbs to describe it. We studied Haiku to work out how they are written and then brought our ideas together to write our own Haiku about the moving castle.

In Design & Technology, Year 4 have researched, designed and created packaging for Christmas chocolates. Their designs were both functional and appealing. Here are a few examples that I would certainly buy in the shops.  

Class 5F have finished their wonderful still-life paintings and have enjoyed showing them together.

In Design & Technology, Year 5 have worked incredibly hard to design and create their own Christmas stockings. They have really impressed Mrs Dowling and me with their passion for sewing! 

Class 5F are reading and studying Goth Girl and The Ghost of a Mouse. As part of this we have learnt about adverbs of possibility and we put them to use by becoming tour guides around Goth Hall, showing speculation with our use of language. 

Many of them would make excellent tour guides.

Class 5F have been studying the topic of food. Here they are conducting a survey on the vegetables that they like to eat. Congratulations to Maya, Maxi, Matthew and Sophie who were awarded a JdV Practice for their clear and accurate communication.

We are celebrating differences in RE and studying poetry on a theme in English, much of which is based on inclusion. As part of this we had opportunity to talk to a friend of Miss V's who had dealt with exclusion due to his ethnicity and his disability. The children planned and asked some great questions and showed polite curiosity.

In Design & Technology, Year 6 have been busy designing and creating shadow puppets. Class 1Q enjoyed a variety of eight short festive performances.   

Class 6W designed and created graffiti-style name banners for their bedrooms this week in club.

Uniform can be ordered here:

Uniform Order Form

Please note the following items are stocked in the School Office and can be added to your account. Do pop in to collect any items.

• Winter hats
• Scarves
• Gloves
• Ties
• Swimming hats
• Sports socks
• Hair bands
• Hair scrunchies
• Hair clips
• Sun hats
• Music group badges - Choir, Orchestra, String and Brass 

School Uniform Shop 
Tel: 01926 634272
Email: uniform@princethorpe.co.uk

Please see below for useful school contact information:

Click here to view the term dates for 2023/24 and 2024/25.

Crescent School

The Foundation has the following vacancies:

Princethorpe College

• IT Engineer
• Teacher of Dance
• Casual Estates Assistant

Full details and information on how to apply are available on the Foundation website here:

www.princethorpe.co.uk/join-us

Should you know anyone who might be interested in these posts, please do share this information with them.